Veterans care

Veterans may develop mental or physical problems during deployment. Some veterans with health problems need professional help. Their first point of contact for this is the Veteran Office (Veteranenloket).

This office gives access to existing care and service from the Ministry of Defence, the Veteran Institute, the national health system for Veterans, the basic civilian pension and the Veteran Platform.

The veteran may seek medical care from a military care organisation or a civilian care organisation. Of course, the military care organisations have specialised knowledge of the military context. On the other hand, civilian care organisations may be more easily accessible in terms of their location. Also, civilian organisations may have more knowledge of certain mental health care fields. For instance the treatment of addictions, PTSD or aggression.

Compensation for veterans

Veterans who have become disabled during deployment are eligible for a one-off special benefit (debt of honour), also referred to as Veterans’ Damage Settlement. The central government thus honours its debt to the veterans who, every day, have to cope with their injuries or mental problems. If you have any questions you can contact the Veteran Office.

the (initial) application for a military disability/invalidity pension must have been submitted before 1 June 2012;

the disability must have occurred before 1 July 2007;

discharge from service must have taken place before 1 July 2007.

A medical examination is not required for the special benefit. To determine the extent of the benefit, the Defence organisation takes as the starting point the definitive degree of disability or unfitness for work at the reference date. The amount of the benefit ranges from € 6,250 to € 125,000. The benefit is an after-tax lump-sum paid out by the Defence Organisation Special Regulations (BRD) unit of the General Pension Fund for Public Employees (ABP). This means that all income taxes are paid by the government and that veterans are not required to report the benefit as income from (previous) work to the Tax and Customs Administration.